Electrical boxes have long been required by the National Electrical Code to be used in building construction for enclosing electrical apparatus such as switches, sockets and electrical appliance connections. An electrical outlet box is generally secured to the studs or joists in a wall or ceiling or floor construction with an open top or face extending into the room. Flush mount device boxes are generally secured flush to the outside sheeting to be surrounded by exterior siding and to be enclosed by the mounting of an electrical device in the box.
Whenever an electrical outlet box or a flush mounted device box is utilized, the vapor barrier provided by the wall construction to exclude cold winter air entering into the house has to be at least in part penetrated by the mounting of such boxes. Therefore it is highly desirable to provide a new and improved outlet box or flush mounted device box which allows such boxes to be installed in a wall construction and yet maintain the integrity of the vapor barrier of the wall construction.
One method proposed to provide a vapor barrier in all of the external walls and ceilings of a building is to lay a continuous plastic sheet either between the studs and the siding or between the studs and the drywall to form a totally encompassing vapor barrier around the building to prevent any air from leaking into the building and any air from within the building to leak out of the building. The use of both electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes require the penetration of this vapor seal. Heretofore, it has been extremely difficult to provide a seal between the electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes to maintain the integrity of a vapor barrier. Therefore it is highly desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box which can provide a seal with the vapor barrier of an exterior wall or ceiling to maintain the integrity of the vapor barrier. It is also highly desirable to provide a new and improved flush mounted device box which can provide a seal with the vapor barrier of an exterior wall or ceiling to maintain the integrity of the vapor barrier.
Concurrent with the development of the new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box of the invention, others have proposed utilizing a rigid flange surrounding the electrical outlet box or flush mounted device box so as to extend outwardly of the box in all directions and to have upper and lower surfaces which are generally parallel with the bottom surface of the box to overlay the vapor barrier. No one has provided any such flange on conventional metal boxes nor on other material boxes. However, others have concurrently with the development of the invention provided a molded PVC box having a flange of the type above described integrally molded with the sides and bottom of the electrical box. It is therefore highly desirable to provide a flange on all electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes which extends outwardly of the box and has upwardly facing and downwardly facing planar surfaces which are generally parallel to the bottom of the box.
Inasmuch as the walls and sides of electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes are required to be essentially rigid, any integrally molded flange has essentially the same rigidity as the sides of the box. Such rigidity gives to contractors installing the box several problems. In any wall construction, imperfections in the studs and the construction of the wall require each of the elements of the wall construction to accommodate small differences in tolerance measurements and alignment. While a flexible vapor barrier easily accommodates such imperfections, a rigid flange extending outwardly of an electric outlet box or flush mounted device box does not. Thus, rigid flanges have been known to cause ripples in interior wall construction and exterior siding installation. To alleviate these ripples, hand labor in shaving or adjusting the position of studs are required to maintain the desired appearance of both siding and interior wall surfaces. It is therefore highly desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box which not only can be mounted in a manner to maintain the integrity of a vapor barrier in an exterior wall or ceiling of a building but which also accommodates any small inconsistencies in dimensions, alignment and the like allowing for fast and efficient construction and at the same time maintaining planar interior wall surfaces and desired siding construction.
Surprisingly in accordance with the invention, a flexible flange secured to an electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes meet all of the above requirements. However, flexible flanges are difficult to install and seal exterior wall vapor barriers and the adherence of such flanges to boxes of various different materials has been proven more difficult than anticipated. Thus, it is highly desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box having a flexible flange with upwardly facing and downwardly facing planar surfaces generally parallel to the box bottom which can be easily secured to the vapor barrier in exterior walls of a building to maintain the integrity thereof.
It is also desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box which has a flange extending outwardly of the box in all directions with upwardly facing and downwardly facing planar surface generally parallel to the bottom of the box which is self supporting and yet flexible.
It is also desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box having a flange extending outwardly thereof in all directions having top and bottom planar surfaces generally parallel with the bottom in which the flange is made of a plastic material adhesively secured to the box in a manner whereby the securance once made is maintained throughout the use of the box in the life of the building to which it is attached.
It is also desirable to provide a new and improved method by which a flexible yet self supporting vapor barrier flange may be secured to existing electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes adhesively in a manner whereby the integrity of the securance can be maintained over the life of the building.
It is desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box or flush mounted device box which allows such boxes to be installed in a wall construction and yet maintain the integrity of the wall construction.
It is desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box which can provide a seal with the vapor barrier of an exterior wall or ceiling to maintain the integrity of the vapor barrier.
It is also desirable to provide a new and improved flush mounted device box which can provide a seal with the vapor barrier of an exterior wall or ceiling to maintain the integrity of the vapor barrier.
It is also desirable to provide a flange on all electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes which extends outwardly of the box and has upwardly facing and downwardly facing planar surfaces which are generally parallel to the bottom of the box.
It is desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box which not only can be mounted in a manner to maintain the integrity of a vapor barrier in an exterior wall or ceiling of a building but which also accommodates any small inconsistencies in dimensions, alignment and the like allowing for fast and efficient construction and at the same time maintaining planar interior wall surfaces and desired siding construction.
It is desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box having a flexible flange with upwardly facing and downwardly facing planar surfaces generally parallel to the box bottom which can be easily secured to the vapor barrier in exterior walls of a building to maintain the integrity thereof.
It is also desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box which has a flange extending outwardly of the box in all directions with upwardly facing and downwardly facing planar surface generally parallel to the bottom of the box which is self supporting and yet flexible.
It is also desirable to provide a new and improved electrical outlet box and flush mounted device box having a flange extending outwardly thereof in all directions having top and bottom planar surfaces generally parallel with the bottom in which the flange is made of a plastic material adhesively secured to the box in a manner whereby the securance once made is maintained throughout the use of the box in the life of the building to which it is attached.
Finally, it is desirable to provide a new and improved method by which a flexible yet self supporting vapor barrier flange may be secured to existing electrical outlet boxes and flush mounted device boxes adhesively in a manner whereby the integrity of the securance can be maintained over the life of the building.
In the broader aspects there is provided a new and improved electrical utility box and flush mounted device box having a flange extending from the box in all directions and a method of adhesively securing the flange to existing boxes. The flange has an upwardly facing surface and a downwardly facing surface which are planar and generally parallel to the bottom of the box. The flange is self supporting and yet flexible enough to accommodate the dimensional and alignment irregularities in construction.